Today is a federal holiday, Labor Day, the unofficial end of Summer.

I could step back in time and post about our labor movement and how it was the cornerstone of American society and made this country what it is….but that would be useless and a waste of time for NO one gives a crap about the labor in this country or the loss of well paying jobs or the sad condition our labor organizations are in.

So to find something for my only post of the day I decided to write about another tradition that seems to be prevalent….the cook out.

Across American citizens will be celebrating Labor Day and the end of Summer with backyard cook-outs with the traditional burgers and dogs.

Let me single out the hot dog.

What is in a hot dog?

“Hair of frog, eye of newt, wing of bat”……sounds a lot like the ingredients of a hot dog.

All kidding aside….what is in a hot dog?

“The industrialization happens in the 1930s, and it comes through … emulsification, which is basically just taking meat and blending it into a paste and then pumping it into artificial casings,” said Jeffrey Pilcher, a professor of history and food studies at the University of Toronto.

That process helps set it apart from traditional sausages, and shares many techniques that made other items like fish sticks and chicken nuggets possible, Pilcher said.

Their accessibility and affordability, however, is largely thanks to low-wage workers manning the factories that make them, said Loftus.

A 2022 report by ProPublica found evidence that then-U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration worked directly with the heads of Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods — makers of Ball Park Franks and Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, respectively — to issue an executive order allowing the plants to remain open during COVID-19, ostensibly in the patriotic interest of feeding the American public.

…

The patriotism behind hot dogs in the U.S. is ironic, Loftus said, since the dish traces its earliest origins to sausage-making in Europe. Immigrants from places like Germany and Poland brought their food traditions with them; eventually they would cross with mass industrialization to produce the “uniquely North American nightmare fuel” that is the modern hot dog on a bun.

“Most hot dogs that you eat wouldn’t be possible, really, without the industrial process and all of these sort of ethical quandaries that come with it,” she said.

As for how exactly the classic hot-dog-and-bun combo came to be, it’s hard to say.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/hot-dog-history-1.6911676

There you have your answer with a little history thrown in for good measure.

I will be grilling but it will not be hot dogs….nope….my grill will be burgers and chicken.

I do hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Labor Day.

Enjoy family, fun, food and the rest of your day.

Back to full blown bitching tomorrow.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”